Saturday, May 30, 2009

Mel Gibson directs James Caviezel in The Passion of the Christ. (2004)

I once belonged to a trad-Catholic email listserv, which took as their patron saint one Hutton Gibson. (Beware thunder-and-lightning sound effects when clicking on the link--as they used to say at the beginning of OUTER LIMITS: "There is nothing wrong with your television set.")... I later realized this was Mel's wacky dad. But at the time, I was just plain astounded and could not stop reading. I felt like I had stumbled into an amazing subculture. Which is true.

I had never met Sedevacantists before, which might be called the Black Helicopter Faction of the Catholic Church; the Area 51 of Trad theology. These people believe there hasn't been a validly elected Pope since... well, predictably, they argue about the details. (One of the "real" popes supposedly resides in Kansas, which might be the funniest damn thing I ever heard.) They are deliberately fuzzy, first attempting to convince you they are correct about papal-invalidity, and then attempting to lobby on behalf of "their" chosen Pope. The most well-known of these sub-groups is the Society of St Pius X (aka SSPX in trad lingo). [NOTE: Many Sedevacantists are splinter groups of SSPX or former fellow-travelers. Other would-be Popes include Lucian Pulvermacher and Manuel Alonso Corral.]

The reasons these folks believe the Chair of Peter is Vacant (Latin derivation of the word SEDEVACANTIST) are in alignment with the Religious Right; the well-worn view that the world is going to hell in a handbasket, with the Catholic Church regarded as just another obvious manifestation of this truth. Modernism, in the sneaky form of Vatican Council II, overtook the Mass and unexpectedly monkeyed with ancient rubrics. In the traditionalists' view, Latin was dissed, priests turned their backs on the tabernacle, people put their dirty fingers all over the Host, dopey hymns invaded where angels feared to tread... and many other hotly-contested changes came with the introduction of the Novus Ordo.

A very good point from the Trads: these transformations of the Mass seemed to demystify a very mystical practice, and detracted from its sanctity... rather as noise in the library detracts from reading; teens giggling in the back rows of dramatic movies ruin your absorption in the narrative. Sudden outbursts of English singing seem very, well... American. Many of the people (such as Evelyn Waugh) who hated the Novus Ordo, hated it because of its zealously-assimilationist tendencies. It seemed very Protestant, complete with a dorky Dr Feelgood homily that often sounded like it came from the pages of Reader's Digest. (Can't we hear what St John of the Cross or some heavy-hitter like that had to say, please?) The Roman Catholic Church has a very rich tradition of mysticism, saints' visions, ideas, theology, folk-piety, litanies and old sermons that one can easily draw upon... and instead, it was not unusual to hear some priest's sentimental story about his dog, or some deacon reading some canned-homily written by Catholic Answers. Those of us hungry for historical liturgy and the old writings (as well as those of us who do not want to assimilate to mass-American culture) ended up net-surfing right into the old AOL Catholic chat rooms, duly named after the Holy Archangels: Michael, Gabriel and Raphael.

For awhile, these three internet chat rooms stayed separate, depending upon whether one was trad, liberal or centrist/undecided... and then, of course, you know what happened. The denizens of all three got all mixed up and finally, the rooms became a free-for-all, with charges of heresy, blasphemy and schism flying right and left. It was at this colorful juncture that the Sedevacantists, well-organized and determined, invaded the rooms as a coordinated group. And it was from this mass invasion that I eventually learned of the listserv, and the Hutton/Mel/Sede connection.

Having their very own movie-star connection was intoxicating for these folks. Mel Gibson took on the characteristics of sainthood, complete with hagiography. He has seven children, they would say, admiringly. He was obviously a right-on kind of guy. The Sedevacantist-adulation of Mel was as intense as the adulation of his schismatic father and their various would-be popes. But at that time, Mel did not publicly "declare himself" as anything but a regular Catholic, to the great irritation of the list-serv members.

When I discovered through the Alcoholics Anonymous grapevine that Mel was "people like us"--I thought, uh oh. If there is one thing alcoholics chronically embrace, it's extremes. Lots of them. I am, for instance, one of the few people who can tell you all about the lefty factions of the 70s and then turn around and tell you all about Hutton Gibson and SSPX. There is a reason for that. I am grateful that I now have the wisdom to know that I am given to this character defect, but it doesn't necessarily prevent me from exercising it. However, it DOES usually prevent me from preening overmuch about my wonderfulness, since I am acutely aware that my wonderfulness could well collapse on a dime, and often has.

I had high hopes for Mel when I learned he was a sponsor of Robert Downey, Jr. I hoped he would back away from the religious extremism of his father and stick to the New Agey-Catholicism one tends to encounter in progressive recovery circles, particularly in a place like Hollywood.

And then I heard that Mel Gibson had built his own church.What? A Catholic?!? Catholics do not build their own churches (although of course, your local Diocese may take all of your money and build one and name a wing after you)... NOOO, Catholics do not build our own churches unless we are...ohhhh no, I thought. No. Not Mel.

A Sede. (slang for Sedevacantist, which also has a very appropriate pod-people sound to it; pronounced SEED.) Mel is a SEDE!

The news traveled through the always-rambunctious Michael, Gabriel and Raphael chat rooms like wildfire. The Sedes themselves were drunk on Mel-Gibson PR and cocky as the devil, you should pardon expression. Not every crackpot breakaway-faction has their own movie-star, after all.

But I wondered. I worried about Mel's wife, Robyn, stuck with the legendary 7 kids while Mel jetsetted all over the world making movies. How genuine is this Sede thing? Is he just trying to impress dad? Or other Catholics? Is this a form of penance for his alcoholism (something I deeply understand and identified with). I wondered how long it would last. As everyone gasped over the graphic violence of The Passion of the Christ, I vividly remember thinking: such extremes... such alcoholic behavior.

And now, the man who was repeatedly held up to me as First Class Catholic Family Man extraordinaire--is getting a divorce. (I assume you all know that divorce is not sanctioned by Catholic doctrine, even the liberal Vatican II Catholic doctrine that Mel and his father proudly placed themselves above.) His seven children, those objects of affection, envy and admiration in Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, are now the children of divorce... just like so many of the rest of us. They are also, like so many other Catholics (including me), the children of an alcoholic. They have learned the psychology of extremes at their daddy's knee, as Mel learned from his daddy, Sedevacantist Holocaust-denier Hutton Gibson.

What can we learn from this? The Buddhist lesson of the Middle Path; few of us can reside full-time at the feverish extremes throughout our entire lives. Simply put: we will fail. And instead of trying to mend something, we flush it down the toilet and run away. That is the way of extremes, the way of the addict: We will not settle for your banal choices, we will build our own church, we will find our own Pope.

And fall in love with a younger woman, and forget everything we say we believed in. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye.

What does the lesson of Mel Gibson teach us about religious extremism? I am still trying to figure it out. I am not really surprised.

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comments:

I'm surprised to even hear about Mels super strange Papa. I never knew that. I'd heard some things...but...OMG. lol.

Personally, I think sometimes a person grows up and is raised in a religion and knows nothing different. It's comfortable and good for them. Then they hear bits and pieces of things and it eventually gets them looking for something new.

Personally, I don't think any ONE religion is right, probably none of them totally. But maybe it's good for one's personal growth to explore. Although I do feel sorry for those exploring the wacky ones.

I new something was up w/ Mel when I heard reports about him befriending Britney Spears. thought it was odd. Interesting post Daisy! That's my something new for the day, lol

Mel is certainly extreme, although like you it seems like he's aware of it. He's called himself "excessive" before in interviews.

And now, despite the divorce and the pregnant girlfriend, Mel's still going to his independant chapel according to People Magazine. He was there with his family last Sunday, and he didn't receive communion.

another first-rate post dear Daisy.Saw The Mel on Letterman trying to make it all seem normal.Google the name of the girlfriend aged 39, and see she has a history of devouring and dumping men.Mel will not go the 15 rounds with her.Robyn will get gazillions of all the loot he made from Aramaic Passion, and retain the respect of her children.Looking back at the scrapes Mel had, they obviously were at the time when the couple were first cracking up, and just symptomatic.Cults. I am not intending to demean your religion, but my catholic mother's approach to child-rearing has instilled a hatred in me.Don't be looking at my blog for good words on Il Papa.

Thanks Daisy for a wonderfully sweeping post. I've followed Mel's career a bit over the years. When he was here in Italy making the film, he received lots of attention both in the public media as well as in the gossip / hearsay circles. It's a small town when it comes to stuff like that.

It must be very difficult for someone rich and famous to find quality sobriety in the groups. Often the folks with the best way of life, post-addiction, are the ones who lost everything or nearly did.

I'm sure we haven't heard the last from Mel Gibson. I for one am staying tuned.

Although, I shouldn't really be surprised. You know there's people who believe Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II isn't the rightful Queen of England? These people also run around calculating freaky theories about who is really the heir to the throne.

I should have realised that the Catholic Church would be prone to the same sort of lunatics.

hi there!.. came across your blog from Owen's page and find it a really cool place (insert smiley face). Anyway, the Catholic church over here (ireland) is going through another hell of time at the moment due to massive abuse court cases and the fact that the church seemed to have protected the priests involved.I suppose any organisation that deals with human belief, emotion, hope, vunerability etc, is susceptable to attracting power hungry individuals. Sadly....

Personally, I think sometimes a person grows up and is raised in a religion and knows nothing different. It's comfortable and good for them. Then they hear bits and pieces of things and it eventually gets them looking for something new.I am not intending to demean your religion, but my catholic mother's approach to child-rearing has instilled a hatred in me.

You are meking a classical mistake, when you confuse the sedevacant position with the conclavist position. While a sedevacantist is a faithful Catholic who recognizes that the Papal-chair is currently vacant, the sedevacantist does not seek to find an alternative Pope, nor to solve the problem by himself. He waits for God to bring the solution and even if 100's of years should pass, he continues to practise the Catholic faith and waits patiently for God to intervene. He knows that the reason why the Church does not have a Pope at the moment is because of our sins, and accepts the situation. A conclavist is a person who understands that we have an anti-pope in Rome at the moment, but who wrongfully elects a "Pope" for himself, without the necessary elements to make the election a valid one. The SSPX have never been sedevacantists, as they believe that the Post Vatican II "popes" where true popes.. They just run their own race, and act very schismaticly and heretical..